Hotel Colorado
The historic hotel, inspired by Italy’s Villa de Medici, is Colorado’s villa of mystery
Ghost Stories of
Hotel Colorado
- The apparitions of two women are seen in the basement
- Odors of phantom cigar smoke are reported in the lobby
- Disembodied voices are sometimes heard in certain rooms
- Luggage left in guest rooms is sometimes unpacked by unseen hands
- Guests report strange perfume smells in the dining areas
- A man’s apparition is seen in the lobby
- Windows in Room 661 are repeatedly closed by a woman’s apparition
- The hotel elevator is sometimes sent to upper floors for no known reason
Hauntings & Hot Springs:
History of Hotel Colorado
The town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was born out of its hot springs and their supposed healing powers. The crown jewel of Glenwood Springs’ historic prosperity still stands in the center of town: Hotel Colorado.
The Italianate hotel was built to be as luxurious as the local hot springs were relaxing.
From popular hotel to military hospital and back again, Hotel Colorado has always been on the forefront of Glenwood Springs’ shifting economic landscape, attracting visitors from far and wide.
It is said that some guests even travel all the way from the afterlife for the chance to stay at Hotel Colorado.
Timeline of Hotel Colorado's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Hotel Colorado through the years
1891
Construction on Hotel Colorado began in 1891. That year, local businessman Walter Devereux hoped to bring a new kind of lodge to Glenwood Springs. For years up to that point, visitors flocked from both nearby mining towns and far off cities, all hoping to bathe in the local hot springs. But, despite the tourism, Glenwood Springs lacked a true luxury hotel. Devereux opened Hotel Colorado in 1893 to fulfill that need. The massive undertaking cost Devereux $850,000; the equivalent of $23,000,000 today.
1901
Immediately, Hotel Colorado became the center of tourist activity in Glenwood Springs. It wasn’t long before famous names of the era started booking guest rooms. Years before her trip on the Titanic, Molly Brown frequently lodged at Hotel Colorado. In 1901, the hotel greeted its first US President: Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt so adored Hotel Colorado that he would lodge there a few times through his presidency. His most notably visit came in 1905, when he spent several weeks at the Colorado lodge.
1943
Over the first decades of the 20th century, Hotel Colorado’s good fortune endured. But, in the 1940s, the US government took control of the business. Leased by the US Navy in 1943, Hotel Colorado became a naval hospital for the remainder of World War II. The government returned ownership to the hotel operators in 1946. But in just three years, over 6,500 patients passed through the hotel-turned-hospital. The Navy also built brig-like jail cells in the building. But, despite their existence, there’s no record of them ever being used.
1974
After returning to private ownership, Hotel Colorado faced some hard decades. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1974, but a revolving door of owners kept basic work undone. Today, due to rehab projects in the 1990s, the Hotel Colorado continues to thrive alongside Glenwood Springs. And while the novelty of hot springs has waned, Hotel Colorado attracts patrons today with the help of some truly unique ghost stories.
Is Hotel Colorado Haunted?
Apparitions are said to be Hotel Colorado’s most common spooky encounter.
Many vivid spiritual figures are said to roam through the hotel. And each one seems to have a distinct hotspot area.
A woman’s ghostly form has been seen around the hotel’s basement fitness center for many years.
Witnesses reported that she frequently used the exercise equipment at off times. Even today, with the fitness center rehabbed and reused, the woman’s figure still appears.
Mysterious Figures in the Basement
Helping keep the fitness center phantom company, another woman’s ghost haunts the basement. Described as an elderly woman, she is seen simply looking around and watching people.
In one story from the 1990s, a worker saw the woman peering into the basement from a ground floor window. When the worker turned on the basement light to get a better look at this strange woman, she vanished in an instant.
Phantom Smells in the Hotel
Moving upstairs, the apparition of a World War II nurse, dubbed Bobbie by witnesses, frequently wanders the first floor halls and dining spaces.
Even when she isn’t spotted in her telltale nurse uniform, guests report smelling her perfume. Bobbie allegedly has always preferred a unique 1940s scent brand called Gardenia.
Cigar Smoking Specters
Guests who run into the distinct floral aroma may soon be hit with another mysterious smell: cigar smoke.
Original hotel owner Walter Devereux always smoked cigars in the hotel. Now, the smell is said to identify his ghost in the lobby. In rare instances, his ghostly figure may appear in the lobby as well, always with a cigar between his teeth.
Spirits in Room 661
With so many ghosts in Hotel Colorado, it might seem difficult to pick the most haunted room. But many claim the answer is easy: Room 661. In Room 661, an unknown woman’s phantom is said to appear in the night.
Not one to simply wander through the room, this woman is infamous for closing the room’s windows whenever they are open.
In one well-known tale, a man took ill in Rook 661, and while his wife repeatedly opened the room windows for fresh air. But, this other woman repeatedly closed them soon after.
Little is known about who this ghostly woman is, but she seems to love floral dresses, and hate drafts.
Strange Sounds & Odd Elevators
Guests who aren’t booked in Room 661 may still encounter unexplained things in their rooms. Guests will often drop their luggage in their rooms when they arrive, only to return to find their bags unpacked by their room’s ghosts.
Additionally, some guests report voices and other odd noises in their rooms at all hours of the day.
In some spaces, people also report the sudden sound of an old typewriter clacking. But whenever they go searching for the noise, it will suddenly stop.
Even the hotel elevator is known for eerie activity. It will often be sent to floors for no known reason, only to open with nobody inside to send it up.
Ghosts of Glenwood Springs
Lodge at Hotel Colorado
Hotel Colorado has remained a beautiful staple of Glenwood Springs since the day it was built. While much of the town has changed in that time, the hospitality of the town’s Italianate hotel hasn’t wavered.
Hotel Colorado today offers numerous kinds of stay packages and programs. Everything from wedding specials, classic hot springs spa packages, and even a ghost-inspired Halloween package. Their website also features pages describing the hotel’s haunted history and list of claims.
Hotel Colorado promotes ghost tours of the hotel, both as standalone offerings and as part of lodging packages.
So, whether you’re a living guest or a ghostly one, Hotel Colorado seems like the place to be. The rooms must be just as luxurious to the dead as they are to the living.
